Memorial for Island of Peace Massacre in Jordanian Hands

On November 10,  the Naharayim and Tzofar farmland in the Arava area were returned to Jordanian control, after the King of Jordan decided not to extend the lease for another 25 years, as per the Israel-Jordan peace agreement. Under the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan, the two areas were recognized as under Jordanian sovereignty, but gave Israel special provision to use the land and allow Israelis free access. Furthermore, at Naharayim, Israeli private property rights were respected.

Naharayim, also known as the Island of Peace, is also the site of the deadly terror attack, on March 13, 1997.  The AMIT Fuerst Zionist religious junior high school from Beit Shemesh was on a class trip to the Jordan Valley and the Island of Peace when a Jordanian soldier named Ahmed Daqamseh opened fire at the children, killing seven girls aged 13 and 14 and badly wounding six other

A memorial was erected in memory of the murdered girls there,  made up of seven hills of dirt surrounded by grass, with the name of each girl written in flowers on each mound.

The Pisgat Hasheva neighborhood (Migdal Hamayim) was also named for the girls. 

Every year,  families and friends gather together in Naharayim in memory of the girls. Now, because of the return of the land to the Jordanians, the families of the seven Beit Shemesh students, have appealed to the political echelon to move the memorial onto Israeli Land. 

Through Mayor Aliza Bloch, the families appealed to the  President's Office to assist them in transferring the memorial.  In her letter, Bloch asked that the monument be transferred to an alternative location under Israeli control, in order to commemorate and perpetuate the memory of the seven girls. 

The President’s Office has informed them that the request to transfer the memorial has been addressed. They are in contact with the relevant security forces and are working to promote the transfer. State officials are optimistic that the memorial will eventually be transferred to Israeli territory, although they do not know when. 

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